Wednesday, February 11, 2009

I would just like to tell everyone that I will be making it a habit to post a meditation on the Sunday readings every week. There is already one done on Mark 1:40-45 and Mark 2:1-12 which should cover this upcoming Sunday and also next Sunday.

Sunday, January 4, 2009

After having multiple theological debates with various Protestants, particularly with some that adhere to or are in support of various Cavalry Chapel doctrines/positions (I mention CC because I have an really big axe to grind with them, see the very first blog post on this site), I have come up with the question that no half-way sentient and thoughtful Protestant can ignore. Here it goes....

"As a Protestant, it is generally understood that you disavow any affiliations with the Pope and reject all human traditions. Having said that, how do you explain the fact that you use a book, the Bible, that is a Catholic Tradition, assembled by Catholics and officiated by a Catholic council that was headed by a Pope?"

Strip away the Bible (be it a Protestant or Catholic one) and there is nothing left but confusion. Expect to hear some off-the-wall answer as to how one has been brainwashed by the Catholic Church into accepting that viewpoint.

Monday, November 24, 2008

Today starts a 4 week session on the Spirit of the Mass for our Bible study focus and it is flipping awesome, to say the least. The only way it could get better is if I were not the youngest person there, but whatever.

With that, here we go.

1)Basic preliminary definitions

a)Mass

i)From Latin, missa.

(1)From Latin phrase Ite missa est- “Go, it is sent”

(2)“it” refers to the Eucharist (in the people)

(a)God being sent forth into the world by the people partaking in the mass.

(b)Reflects back on the closing line of mass, “The mass has ended, let us go in peace to love and serve the Lord”

ii)All above points can be referred to as the “mission”.

(1)Mission comes from the same root as mass, which is missa.

b)Eucharist

i)“Thanksgiving”

ii)Comes from accounts of last supper

iii)Has a deeper meaning

(1)In OT, there are 5 sacrifices given by priests

(2)One is the todâ

(a)Normally referred to as the “goodwill offering”

(b)More correctly translated as “thanksgiving”

(3)Was different than other sacrifices

(a)Was a meal

(b)Sacrifice given for a good thing.

(4)Process of todâ

(a)Father and eldest son went to temple, killed animal and given to priest

(b)Some given back to father, some to other priests, etc.

(c)Then meat was cooked and shared as a meal

(5)Meals were symbolic in that time

(a)Sharing of a meal was only done on the most intimate of occasions

(b)Sharing a meal was a symbol of family.

2)Mass is in 2 main elements with 2 parts to each element

a)Liturgy of the Word

i)Introductory Rite

ii)Liturgy of the Word

b)Liturgy of the Eucharist

i)Liturgy of the Eucharist

ii)Concluding Rite

c)Notice that the Mass begins and ends with a rite.

3)4 things that need to be made clear about the Eucharist (from Pope JPII)

a)Eucharist is the “source and summit of entire Christian life”

i)Everything we do comes from the Eucharist.

ii)It is Christ Himself, there is nothing greater than Him

iii)While it is the source, it is also our destination, the summit being that we strive to be more like Him

iv)Represents the “beginning and end, alpha and omega, source and summit”

b)In Mass, we experience the most unique moment of intensity in encountering Jesus Christ

i)While all sacraments and other activities encounter the power of Jesus, the Mass is the most intense encounter with Jesus.

ii)The Mass is the sacrifice.

c)In the Eucharist, human beings discover the full manifestation of God’s love for humanity.

i)Represents everything He did and what He is about.

d)You will never fully understand the Eucharist

i)Where our head fails us, our spirit helps us.

ii)We can encounter Him without fully understanding Him.

4)How do we receive Jesus? How does his promise mean anything now?

a)Because we are brought back to it. As a Christian, we are literally a part of Christ.

b)Analysis of the line “Do this in remembrance of me” (Luke 22:19)

i)Remembranceis actually anamnesis

(1)There is no English equivalent for this word

(2)Literally means “to take something from the past and make it present now”

Saturday, November 22, 2008

I would like to thank my friend Ehab, aka Elijah for his inspiring spiritual look at the various stories in the Bible. They are eloquently written and he has a talent for the elegant that I do not possess as of yet and for his participation in this blog I am ecstatic about. Thanks Ehab!

I would also like to apologize for the lack of updated content. I missed 3/6 weeks of the St. Paul class due to unforeseen circumstances and whatnot and since Bible studies are given by the same guy that taught the St. Paul class and he postponed Bible study until next week, so you will have to wait until next week to see anything really cool.

In other news, the posts should get better once I acquire my Livescribe Pulse Smartpen. Yes folks, this is a totally sweet piece of technology and the content will knock your socks off. I haven't set a defintive date yet but it will be sometime soon (maybe a Black Friday sale snag? Who knows!)

Anyways, I must sally forth to bed, for I have a shooting trip to attend in the morning with some old and new friends.

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

The scripture story we will be meditating on today is Jesus walking on water. If we want to grow spiritually, we have to meditate on the Bible. We have to read the Gospels and ask ourselves "what does this mean to me today and how does this relate to me?" Let's see what we can benefit from the story of Jesus walking on water.

Here is the story in its fullness (Matthew 14:22-33):

22 Then he made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. 23 And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, 24 but the boat by this time was many furlongs distant from the land, beaten by the waves; for the wind was against them. 25 And in the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. 26 But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, saying, "It is a ghost!" And they cried out for fear. 27 But immediately he spoke to them, saying, "Take heart, it is I; have no fear." 28 And Peter answered him, "Lord, if it is you, bid me come to you on the water." 29 He said, "Come." So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus; 30 but when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, "Lord, save me." 31 Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, "O man of little faith, why did you doubt?" 32 And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. 33 And those in the boat worshipped him, saying, "Truly you are the Son of God."

Let us now break the story apart and meditate on it.

22 Then he made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. 23 And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone,

Jesus told His disciples to get into a boat to go to the other side of the waters. His disciples got into the boat and went on the other side with no questions asked. Do we do the same? How many times do we question what God wants us to do? Even when we are so clear on what He wants us to do, we doubt it. We don't doubt it because we aren't sure whether it's from God or not, but we doubt it because it is too hard for us to do. God allows us to have crosses to carry. When we have these crosses, instead of rejoicing in the suffering that Christ allows us to share with Him, we make excuses not to do them. Let us be obedient and "get in our boat" as it is fitting to the Lord.

Jesus went up the mountain by himself to pray by Himself. This is a beautiful example for us. Do we find time to give to God? How often do you pray? How often do you think you should pray? Praying is the number one thing to do if you want to grow spiritually. It is life changing. We need to pray every night to our Father. Let us not only pray memorized prayers, but we are called to speak to the Father as a child speaks to a parent.

24 but the boat by this time was many furlongs distant from the land, beaten by the waves; for the wind was against them.

"For the wind was against them." Ahh, yes. Do you feel troubled at the moment? Is there something in life right now that is worrying you? Anything that is keeping you up at night? Indeed we all suffer! Suffering is a part of life whether we like it or not. It helps us grow and become stronger.

Notice how the verse says "But the boat by this time was many furlongs distant from the land." What is so significant about this? Who was the one who is on the land? It is Jesus. Do you feel like you are really far from God? As if God does not care about you or your problems? "Why is God making me suffer like this?!" We ask questions like this when we are suffering. We all feel anxiety at times. We all feel like God is far away from us at times. We all feel like we are being "beaten by the waves".

25 And in the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea.

What a beautiful verse. He came to them! Jesus was on top of the mountain praying the whole time. He could see the boat that the disciples were in. He saw that they were suffering, but He did not come to the rescue right away. He waited. He does the same to us. We all have our own boats. We go through ups and downs in life. When we suffer, God does not always come to the rescue the way we want Him to. He allows the suffering to happen. Does he like punishing His children? By no means! He allows it to happen because a greater good comes out of it. There are other reasons why He allows it to happen but man cannot know this for sure. Who can know the mind of God? Nevertheless, let us put our trust in God, for He alone will deliver us. Whether in this life or the next. Are you suffering at this point? Is your boat being beaten by the waves? Be patient. Let this story be an example for you. Put your trust in the Lord and you will be saved from your anxieties. Offer your sufferings up to the Lord and share in His suffering that He suffered for you. If anyone thinks their suffering is too impossible to overcome, let them look at the Cross of Christ! Let us humble ourselves, for humility leads to exaltation.

Jesus came to His disciples walking on the water. In the story that we are meditating on, what is causing the Disciples to suffer? Surely it is the waters. What does Christ do? He comes and walks on the water which means the water is under His feet. What a powerful and beautiful image. Jesus walks on top of the very thing that is causing His disciples to suffer. Christ defeats their sufferings for nothing is impossible for God. So too for us. He will come to us and walk all over our anxieties. It is a matter of putting our trust in Him.

26 But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, saying, "It is a ghost!" And they cried out for fear.

How many times does Christ come to us for rescue and we simply do not recognize Him? He comes to us and extends His arm out to us and we simply do not recognize Him. He teaches us the true way and we simple ignore it. We think that God will never put this much burden on us and expect us to follow His ways. We ask questions like "you mean I have to be nice to her? She hates me!" Do you think Jesus prayed to the Father in vein when He prayed for those who were crucifying Him saying "Father forgive them for they not know what they do"? Let us forgive all those who have wronged us. Let us live in love. Love transforms cultures. I am guilty of falling short of this, most of us are. Let us not make God what we want Him to be, but let us allow God to make us who He wants us to be! Let us recognize Him when he stretches out His arms and tries to help us. The biggest thing that gets in our way of recognizing Him is pride. Let us be humble and follow His ways rather than ours and we will recognize Him as Lord instead of a stranger. The way you get to know a friend is by spending time with him. Do you spend time with the Lord by reading His word and talking to Him?

27 But immediately he spoke to them, saying, "Take heart, it is I; have no fear."

The words "it is I", in Greek are "ego emi" which means "I AM" which is the name of God in the Old Testament (Yahweh). Christ walking on water and saying "I AM" is a way of telling His Disciples that He is God. When God comes to the rescue, we should indeed have no fear.

28 And Peter answered him, "Lord, if it is you, bid me come to you on the water." 29 He said, "Come." So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus;

Peter still had doubts that it is Jesus. We can look at Peter and think that He is stupid for still doubting after Jesus is walking on the water in front of Him. But don't we also do the same thing? After all the times that God has helped us through a problem (whether we know it or not), we still doubt when we fall into another problem. Will we ever learn? Let us not judge Peter's actions, but let us look at our own. For we are the same today as His disciples were back then. Always looking for more evidence.

What does the Lord tell Peter? "Come". Beautiful. Christ also tells us to come to Him. We need to hear His voice by being still. It is written in the Psalms "Be still and know that I am God." It is also written "If today you hear His Word, harden not your hearts." Let us open our ears to the Lord and harden not our hearts. Let us come to Christ when we are called to come. It is never too late to come to Him. No matter what you have done, God will forgive you and erase your past and give you a brand new start.

Peter does come. He comes and walks on water. I can relate to Peter. Ever since I came to the Lord, I too feel like I've been walking on water. It is a joyful feeling to have. Peter walked on the very same waters that he was afraid of.

30 but when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, "Lord, save me."

Peter was fine when he had his eyes set on the Lord. He was walking on the water with no problems, walking towards Christ. When did he begin to sink? When he saw the win, and was afraid. In other words, when he took his eyes off of Jesus. As long as we keep our eyes on Jesus, we will do great things. When we take our eyes off Jesus, we too will fall. Let me put this in an example. Let us say that someone has an addiction to alcohol. This person can try and overcome this addiction by keeping his eyes on Jesus. If he prays and reads the Word of God and meditates on it, he will grow spiritually, rather than trying to satisfy his flesh. But let's say that the storm is the alcohol. Right when this person takes his eyes off of Jesus and thinks about alcohol, he will be tempted. Temptation is the first step to sin. He will surely fall if he doesn't focus his eyes (better yet his life) on God.

But we all fall! Does that mean it's too late? By no means. Look at Peter's words, "Lord, save me." Let us do the same when we fall and call on the Lord to save us. A saint is not someone who is perfect, but a saint is someone who gets right back up every time he falls.

31 Jesus immediately reached out his hand and caught him, saying to him, "O man of little faith, why did you doubt?" 32 And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. 33 And those in the boat worshipped him, saying, "Truly you are the Son of God."

Jesus will do the same for us when we call out "Lord, save me!" He will reach out His hand and catch us. If Christ will help Peter who had such little faith, how much more will He help those with strong faith? Let us not doubt, but trust in Him.

The wind ceased. The storm is over now. For with God, all things are possible. We need to worship God too. Not only when He does great things for us, but always. God will always do great things for us; it is up to us to recognize Him when He comes.